In 1881 George Melville was the engineer aboard the sailing vessel Jeanette when she finally succumbed to the pack ice off the coast of Siberia in 1881. The entire crew escaped onto the ice with three boats and made for the open sea. They became separated on the water, and only Melville's boat reached the relative safety of the western shore of the Lena River delta. He immediately recruited an expedition to find the others. This is the tale of his harrowing search for survivors, and his tragic discovery on the eastern shore.